Protecting Creative Works in a Digital Age

["Hamaker, Chuck" <cahamake@email.uncc.edu>]

Protecting Creative Works in a Digital Age: What is at stake for Content
Creators, Providers, and Users?
http://judiciary.senate.gov/special/feature.cfm

On:Senate JudiciaryCommittee website.

Includes a "user comments" section that as of today (March 18 2002) had no
comments.  There is no mention of library concerns or issues or even much
about fair use in the digital environment on the main page.  -- I don't
see much about user issues from a user perspective. So far it just looks
like a disagreement between IT CEO's and Entertainment CEOs.

"The Senate Committee on the Judiciary has jurisdiction over intellectual
property issues in the Senate and has long been engaged in keeping our
nation's copyright laws up-to-date in the face of new and evolving
technological advancements, while ensuring that the public is able to
enjoy a growing selection of new and different educational, entertainment
and other copyrighted works."

... EXCERPT: "Some content owners are calling for congressional
intervention to provide additional protection for digital copyrighted
works in the form of government mandated standards for, and agency
certification and approval of, DRM technologies. Information technology
companies, in turn, have expressed concern that inappropriate government
mandates could stifle innovation and hobble technology that could be made
available to creators and consumers to improve the quality, functionality,
flexibility, and freedom that digital delivery systems, and personal
computer technology in general, have to offer."

...

"If you have comments on these issues that you wish to share with the
Committee and with other stakeholders, please e-mail
usercomments@judiciary.senate.gov. We ask that comments not be sent
anonymously, so that if we need to edit comments for public display or
request clarification, we are able to contact the author."